Seniors Andy Anasinski, Terry Frigo and Ron French carried St. Patrick through most of four quarters against No. 8 Batavia in the Elgin tournament finale Saturday.
But in overtime, it was up to junior Abraham Guttierrez, who sank two free throws with 18 seconds left to seal a 62-59 victory for the Shamrocks and hand Batavia (10-1) its first loss.
Anasinski scored 18 points, while Frigo (11 rebounds) and French each added 15 points for St. Patrick. Frigo fouled out with 2:39 left in the fourth.
“Frigo fouling out was definitely the turning point because Anasinski and French were able to give our kids the confidence they needed down the stretch to win the game,” St. Patrick coach Mike Bailey said.
Batavia’s Brandon Schwar (17 points) fouled out in overtime, and the Bulldogs missed their final shot, a three-pointer.
Pontiac: Simeon defeated No. 20 West Aurora 65-51 in the championship game behind the brilliant play of tournament most valuable player Bobby Simmons, who scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Simmons was backed up by guards Pierre Greene (16 points) and Hyseal Sheppard (14 points). The Wolverines played a near perfect game, shooting 68 percent from the floor (28 of 41) and shutting down a potent West Aurora attack. They limited the Blackhawks to 40 percent shooting (21 of 52).
West Aurora suffered a damaging blow when Greg Miller aggravated an injury with four minutes to play in the second quarter. Without Miller’s calming influence, Simeon began the third quarter with a 12-0 run, taking a commanding 42-23 lead.
In the semifinals, West Aurora dismantled No. 14 Oak Park 70-51. The Blackhawks went 12 of 14 from the floor and hit four of five three-pointers en route to a 29-18 first quarter lead. Jason Passley scored 11 of his game-high 24 points in the quarter. Trevis Williams had eight points and four assists and limited Oak Park guard Jason Ayers to six points on 3-of-14 shooting.
In the second semifinal, Simeon (6-2) upended top-seeded East Peoria 59-50 behind 22 points and eight rebounds from Simmons.
Centralia: With five minutes to go in the championship game between Carver and Julian, Carver’s Nick Irvin began to celebrate. His Challengers were leading 66-54 and seemed to be coasting to an easy victory. Lance Williams (30 points, 10 rebounds) then led a torrid Julian rally, though No. 2 Carver pulled out a 75-74 victory for its second straight title. Kevin Bailey had 16 points and Irvin and Reginald Lewis each added 15 for the victors.
Carver and Julian both survived exciting semifinal contests to advance to Saturday night’s championship contest.
Carver edged Alton 86-84 as Irvin hit the winning shot with 1.6 seconds remaining.
Julian (9-1) earned an equally tough 89-87 victory on host Centralia’s home court.
Rockford: De La Salle outscored Rock Island Alleman 29-9 in the third quarter and won the championship 68-59. Marvin Groves and Phil Chavarria each totaled 14 points for the Meteors. . . . No. 17 Providence-St. Mel pulled out a 68-65 third-place triumph over Rockford East as Jerrell Dantzler scored 25 points and Reggie Hall added 17.
Lincoln-Way: Morgan Park (8-1) rode the big shoulders of LeDaryl Billingsley to advance to Monday’s championship game against Sandburg by holding off Leo 66-63.
The 6-7 Billingsley, who suffered from the flu Friday night, tallied 22 points, grabbed 17 rebounds and blocked two shots after missing the team’s warmups.
The Mustangs led 50-39 in the fourth quarter. But Leo (7-4), led by Ken Philpot (20 points), put together a run, tying the score at 57 with four minutes to play. But the Mustangs blanked the Lions the rest of the way.
Sandburg will make its third straight title-game appearance, hoping this is its charm after losing to Thornton the last two years. Sandburg (9-2) beat Brother Rice (9-2) 60-55 as guard Zak Kustok (29 points) drilled four free throws in the last 14.7 seconds to seal the win. Brother Rice was led by Beronti Simms (18 points).
East Aurora: Tournament MVP Aaron McGhee hit 13 of 19 shots from the field as No. 16 East Aurora (11-1) won its tournament for the first time since 1992 with a 74-47 thumping of Naperville North (7-4). Terrell Ruff added 10 to the victory, while Justin McCareins led the Huskies with 12 in defeat.
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Jacobs: Bob Carmody scored 28 points as Crystal Lake Central handed Lake Forest a 66-54 loss and won the Gold division at 5-0. Mark Gustavson had 19 points for Lake Forest, which won the Brown division with a 4-1 record.
Lemont: Lisle (10-0) rolled past Illiana Christian 71-55 for the Class A championship with 38 points by Damien Glover. Doug VanderMolen had 19 for Illiana (5-5). . . . Providence won the AA title, topping Lemont 70-48 with 21 points and 13 rebounds from Tavaras Hardy.
Luther North: Zion-Benton advanced to Monday’s championship game against Mather with a 64-49 victory over Steinmetz. Joe Maitland led the Zee Bees with 14. . . . Mather advanced with a 76-62 victory over Walther Lutheran. Jameel Pledger led the Rangers with 25 points.
Kankakee: The host school romped over Dimond Lynx of Anchorage, Alaska, 57-28 with a balanced scoring attack in the Class AA title game. James Murphy and Terrell Cook tallied 13 and 12 points, respectively, for the Kays. . . . Driscoll, powered by Adam Ackerman’s 21 points and 13 rebounds, won the Class A title 63-44 over Tolono Unity.
Wheeling: Mike Howland scored seven of his 14 points in the fourth quarter as St. Viator (8-2) edged Prospect (6-6) 51-46 to advance to Monday’s final. . . . Maine West (10-1) will meet St. Viator in the title game. The Warriors downed Naperville Central 64-56 with 22 points from Greg Jenkins.
Waubonsie Valley: The host Warriors (10-1) captured the title for the third time in four years with their 55-42 victory over Glenbard South, outscoring their opponent 17-7 in the final quarter to pull away. Dan Zatloukal scored 17 points and tournament MVP R.J. Luke added 16. Waubonsie played without leading scorer George Poulakidas (back injury). Glenbard West (6-6) was led by Robert Johnson (15 points).
York: Conant (8-4) claimed the championship with its 53-44 come-from-behind victory over York (9-4). Trailing 44-36, the Cougars finished with a 17-0 run and held York scoreless the last 6:44 to prevail. Mike Roberts led Conant with 22 points. York’s Tim Stratton, Mark Thomas and Kelly Lefevour each tallied 10. . . . Jordon Kardos bounced back from a sub-par effort Friday with 28 points, including six three-pointers, as Glenbrook North (11-2) claimed third place with a 66-58 victory over Downers Grove South (10-2). Greg Ktistou led the Mustangs in defeat with 19.